In my view, the singular focus upon abortion as THE issue over which conservative Catholics will brook no divergence and around which we are called to rally reveals, to my mind, not evidence of robust Catholic culture as much as its absence. It seems to me that \u2013 along with the opposition to gay marriage \u2013 this issue represents the last stand, the inner-most wall barely keeping the hordes from overrunning the sanctum. The ferocity over this issue \u2013 and this issue almost to the exclusion of nearly every other issue that might be part of a rich fabric of Catholic culture \u2013 suggests to me that Catholic culture, where it existed, has been largely routed. And, in fact, it suggests further that it is precisely for this reason that this issue has become largely defined politically \u2013 and not culturally \u2013 with an emphasis on the way that the battle over abortion must be won or lost at the ballot box (and, by extension, Supreme Court appointments).<\/p>\n
Most Catholics have long ago ceased to live in a Catholic culture, per se. I would go so far as to surmise that many of the most vociferous opponents of abortion \u2013 ones lined up in this particular battle \u2013 do not by and large live in particularly Catholic cultures, so much as occasionally gather with like-minded Catholics at various locations (Church, a conference, a retreat) and otherwise live suffused in a decidedly non-Catholic culture. Most of us \u2013 Catholic or non-Catholic \u2013 live by default in THIS culture, whatever we would call it \u2013 liberal, modern, American, global, polyglot, anti-culture. THIS culture is decisively a \u201cculture of choice<\/a>.\u201d Even those who would seek to inhabit a Catholic culture do so as a matter of individual choice \u2013 a lifestyle option. But this is not a Catholic culture as we might historically and traditionally understand such a culture \u2013 where that culture (as with any culture) shapes and forms your worldview, largely unbeknownst to you and without prior consent or choice on your part.<\/p>\n
One of the most ardent and conservative Catholics that I know lives in an ocean-side house in Malibu, California. His opposition to abortion is fierce; however, in no way could it be suggested that he lives in a Catholic culture. He is a Catholic living in a culture of materialism, individualism, hyper-mobility and hedonism. While perhaps more extreme than the case for most of us, nevertheless his situation is closer to most American Catholics today than not. American Catholics have largely assimilated into mainstream American society, and come to seek success and approval from that culture on its terms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n